Jakarta: Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu battled her way into the second round of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament while Lakshya Sen bowed out after losing in the opening round here on Tuesday.
Sindhu overcame long-time rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 22-20, 21-23, 21-15 in an absorbing one-hour and 19-minute clash in the women’s singles.
Sen, the 2021 World Championships bronze medallist, battled valiantly before falling to world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China 11-21 22-20 15-21 in in a gripping first round men’s singles contest that lasted one hour and five minutes.
The 23-year-old Sen, returning from a back injury that had ruled him out of a tournament in Malaysia last week, showed remarkable resilience.
Trailing 11-17 in the second game, Sen mounted a spirited comeback, saving a match point and clinching the game 22-20 to force a decider.
However, the momentum proved short lived as Shi reasserted control in the third game to seal the match.
Sindhu and Okuhara engaged in a war of attrition in an error marred match that had plenty of game points and match points.
Sindhu edged a tense first game 22-20, saving a game point and producing attacking shots at clutch moments.
In the second game, Sindhu held a slender two-point lead early on but trailed 7-11 at the mid-game interval. She clawed her way back, earning two match points with a thunderous cross-court smash.
But unforced errors continued to creep in, allowing Okuhara to level at 20-20. The Japanese eventually took the second game 23-21.
The decider followed a familiar pattern of conservative play, with neither of the two taking undue risks.
Sindhu led 11-9 at the break and then found her groove, unleashing a series of winners to surge to 20-12.
Sindhu earned eight match points and she sealed the win by converting the fifth one to book her spot in the round of 16.
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